SEVERAL hundred homes in Billericay have been formally refused despite the area having one of the country's lowest rates of housing delivery.

Plans for up to 420 homes on land off Laindon Road, Billericay, were refused on the basis of inappropriate development in the green belt at a meeting on August 19.

At the same meeting a planning application for 325 homes on land north and south of Barn Hall, Station Road, Wickford, was also refused on the basis of inappropriate development in the green belt. An appeal to the Planning Inspectorate over the decision has already been lodged.

A plan for another 71 homes on land of London Road Crays Hill was also refused as it was deemed inappropriate development on the green belt.

However, an application for 56 residential homes on land to the south of London Road in Crays Hill was granted permission.

The meeting had earlier had heard from officers at Basildon Council that the area has only delivered 23 per cent of its housing requirement. The developer behind refused plans for 49 homes off Potash Road in Billericay said the figure "places the council among the poorest performing authorities in the country".

The statement added: "Behind these figures are real people, young families unable to get on the housing ladder, residents forced into unsuitable accommodation and households waiting for access to genuinely affordable homes.

"The council is failing its constituents in this regard and denying future generations the opportunity to live in the town they grew up in."